Improvement in the construction of boats or barges



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHRLES G. JOHNSEN, OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BOATS OR BARGES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 152,751, dated July 7, 1874; application filed February 10, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES G. JoHNsEN, of New Orleans, in the State of Louisiana, have invented an Improvement in the Construction of Boats and Barges, of which the following is a specication:

The object of this invention is to facilitate the transportation of freight upon the Mississippi River and other water-courses where the great bulk of the freight is to be carried down the stream.

In taking a loaded boat down stream, the natural current renders the passage easy, so that but small propelling' power is required to convey a large cargo. The diiiculty lies in taking the boats or barges up the stream again. As they are ordinarily constructed they cannot,`even without a cargo, return against a rapid current without a greaterr expenditure of power than was required to take them down. This dificulty it is proposed to obviate by the new and improved construction which forms the subject of this patent.

The invention is fully illustrated by the drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a boat embodying this invention, and Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same.

By constructing a boat or barge in the manner herein shown, it will be seen that the lower portion of the hull will have much sharper lines than the upper part, and therefore can be driven through the water with much less resistance. In running down stream with` a large cargo, this enlarged upper part of the boat gives great carrying capacity. In returning with an empty boat or only a small cargo, this upper part will be raised entirely out of the water. The greatly diminished resistance arising from the sharper outlines thus presented to the water makes it possible to obtain sufficient speed with no greater propelling power than was used in moving the heavilyladen boat down the stream.

What is claimed as new is- A boat or bargepconstrueted substantially as and for `the"purpose hereinbefore set forth.

GHAS.- G. JOHNSEN. Witnesses:

CLIFT BRULLs, FREDERIC CooK. 

